Need to get a tablet for work/play. The work stuff I do is mostly excel and internet. I am eyeing either the ipad air or the surface 2 rt. the obvious choice may not be so clear since the ipad now comes with their spreadsheet app which is compatible with excel. I don't need so much memory since spreadsheets are minimal in size and I pull them off the cloud. The surface seems great...on the surface. But with lack of apps, a buggy OS and general market displeasure with Microsoft hardware I am apt to lean towards ipad. But I like the hardwired keyboard feature of the surface.
Does anyone know if there is any latency or lag with using a Bluetooth keyboard with iPads? Since any tablet I buy would go along with a keyboard/cover.

Are you a Geek or a User? If your a User, Get an Ipad, if your a Geek, you would probably be better off with almost anything but an IPad. My Ipad is reliable and solid, it does what it needs to and there are applications for nearly anything else. Its not a computer but I have 3 computers, they arent nearly as portable and I always have a tool box or something with me so even a Laptop is too bulky. Apple Generally releases/ approves fully baked software and most of their stuff is nearly worthy of its outrageous price. My 2 cents for what its worth!

Between your two choices, I'd go with the iPad. I am just not hearing much good about the Surface. I'm afraid they are the Betamax of the tablet and phone world. It wouldn't surprise me if they bowed out of mobile devices in the next 3 years. And unless you are a hard core gamer, you'll likely never notice any latency in bluetooth peripherals.

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Scott

Quote:

If you're not representing Jesus in a way that makes people want to hang out with you, you're doing it wrong.

Quote:

Those who refuse to participate in politics shall be governed by their inferiors. -Plato

I am on my second iPad, this one wifi/4g. Looking hard now at the air...
Have never visited FTF on a laptop, in fact!...hence my usually short posts...
For me, it provides:
Internet use when working...My work PC is pretty locked down...
Hot spot for family when traveling...wife has my 1st iPad and kids have kindle fires.
In field capture, management, and viewing of game cameras.
Most of my news feed through a variety of news apps.
All online purchases and shopping.
Movies viewed while flying or layover.
My purchased music is stored and played from my pad...have a great Bluetooth speaker for excellent sound wherever.
All accounts are managed on the pad...
Propped on the kitchen counter, it provides recipes while cooking from a variety of apps...
I don't play games, but could...

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If It Were Easy, They Would Not Call It Work, And Everyone Would Do It

Between your two choices, I'd go with the iPad. I am just not hearing much good about the Surface. I'm afraid they are the Betamax of the tablet and phone world. It wouldn't surprise me if they bowed out of mobile devices in the next 3 years. And unless you are a hard core gamer, you'll likely never notice any latency in bluetooth peripherals.

Agreed.
I got my Samsung galaxy tab 10.2 for like $150. Picked up a keyboard for like $50. Hardly ever use the keyboard.

Im a android user because much of what I already paid for in Apps to run with my programs at work arent compatible with the I pads or the ones that are I would have to pay for again on the IPad apps same with the Iphones and Im more familiar with the Android system. If you decide to go android dont go with the cheapest unit you can go mid way with a Samsung or something equivalent .

As an Android phone user, I am looking at the new iPad Mini if Apple would just hurry up and give a release date. I had a first generation Kindle Fire and some other early Android tablet that has since gone the way of the dodo.

Android tablets are pretty slick and you can get some good deals out there. The Kindle is not bad because of its Amazon connection but if you don't have Prime it becomes a bit burdensome because of the proprietary limitations they've placed on it. If you enjoy just general futzing around the Android tablets aren't bad but the world really opens up for you on an iPad.

iPads are more expensive but if you want to watch movies on them there is just a lot better support. Even with more movies being released on Ultraviolet versus iTunes it's still just generally easier. I have a good collection of my movies that simply will not work on my Kindle or any Android device without getting into some legal grey areas, which I avoid for all kinds of reasons. For multimedia use the iPad is simply the easiest to use. Also, it just generally works while Android versions can cause a lot of extra fiddling around.

As for Surface, why bother? The tablet looks really cool on the surface (no pun intended, I swear) but for something they've made so hard to function like a laptop I can never quite get a grasp if it works as well as a laptop. If it's not going to be a laptop, well it's kind of limited as a tablet. All of the support behind Android and iOS and MS wants to push this concept far too late. The interface is slick but I have no confidence it will do what I want on a tablet while also having to accept the fact I will be horribly limited on app choices. Smartglass? Who cares, like I need another screen to watch while I watch something? In general the Surface looks like something I will regret later. Maybe the iPad is just the "safe" choice, but for the money at least I won't be wishing I had done something else.

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"For every problem there is always a solution that is simple, obvious, and wrong." - Mark Twain

As an Android phone user, I am looking at the new iPad Mini if Apple would just hurry up and give a release date. I had a first generation Kindle Fire and some other early Android tablet that has since gone the way of the dodo.

Android tablets are pretty slick and you can get some good deals out there. The Kindle is not bad because of its Amazon connection but if you don't have Prime it becomes a bit burdensome because of the proprietary limitations they've placed on it. If you enjoy just general futzing around the Android tablets aren't bad but the world really opens up for you on an iPad.

iPads are more expensive but if you want to watch movies on them there is just a lot better support. Even with more movies being released on Ultraviolet versus iTunes it's still just generally easier. I have a good collection of my movies that simply will not work on my Kindle or any Android device without getting into some legal grey areas, which I avoid for all kinds of reasons. For multimedia use the iPad is simply the easiest to use. Also, it just generally works while Android versions can cause a lot of extra fiddling around.

As for Surface, why bother? The tablet looks really cool on the surface (no pun intended, I swear) but for something they've made so hard to function like a laptop I can never quite get a grasp if it works as well as a laptop. If it's not going to be a laptop, well it's kind of limited as a tablet. All of the support behind Android and iOS and MS wants to push this concept far too late. The interface is slick but I have no confidence it will do what I want on a tablet while also having to accept the fact I will be horribly limited on app choices. Smartglass? Who cares, like I need another screen to watch while I watch something? In general the Surface looks like something I will regret later. Maybe the iPad is just the "safe" choice, but for the money at least I won't be wishing I had done something else.

Good analysis.

For what it's worth. My phone is an Android. My tablet is an Android. My computer is a Mac. The next phone I get will be another Android. If I get a new tablet it will likely be an iPad. And you can have my Mac when you pull it from my cold, dead fingers.

__________________
Scott

Quote:

If you're not representing Jesus in a way that makes people want to hang out with you, you're doing it wrong.

Quote:

Those who refuse to participate in politics shall be governed by their inferiors. -Plato

For best compatibility with the Office Suite Android would be better than iOS. iOS, in my opinion, is a more stable OS but this could be changing. Time will tell. I am considering picking up a surface to play with but I already have an iPad and am generally happy with it. My venture into the android OS left me in utter disappointment after 1 year of usage. I will say it may had been because of the hardware and version of software it was running. But not being able to push a newer version of OS to it was a frustration as well.

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Jesse James